Jumping in with Both Feet

Every once in a while, I take a really big leap of faith. I jump into something with both  feet and make a commitment to a wildly new experience.  

Twenty years ago, I entered a beauty pageant: The Irish Rose of Tralee.   All my life, I had felt like an ugly duckling, but when I was asked to enter by the coordinator, I jumped in withboth feet.  I didn’t win.  Winning wasn’t even my ultimate goal.  I was just thrilled to be part of it all, and I had a great time.

Somewhere in my closet, I may still have that Kelly green dress, a strapless vision of Kelly green with a regal train.  I’ve given my daughter the jewelry. Today, I have proud memories of trying something out of my comfort zone. 

About 10years ago, I raced in an Adventure Race. The race was composed of a 3-mile trail-running leg, a canoe leg, a 7-mile mountain bike trail leg, and a mystery event, which turned out to be crawling through a lake water mud pit under a layer of rebar.   My goal was to finish and finish in less  than the 4 hour cut-off.  I’m no athlete;I’m just very determined.

The first leg was the running.  Let me tell you – my teammate and I were last in that leg. Way last.   Way, way last.  I’m just not fast.  We were going when everyone else was coming back.  We were so far behind that they sent an all-terrain vehicle to make sure we were ok.

For the  second leg, I headed our canoe straight into all of the on-coming boats.   I didn’t miss the irony that the boats parted for us like the Red Sea.  We actually passed several canoes that had been up to 10 minutes ahead of us and returned to shore for the pit and the mountain bike leg.  

We finished in 3 hours and 40 minutes…. 20 minutes ahead of that 4-hour limit.  And, we were not last.   I was happy and had a great time.

This week, I have entered a writing contest much like American Idol.  Authors from around the globe compete in 4rounds to pitch their book ideas and give voters little tidbits to read.  Voters will keep us alive in the competition to ultimately win help in publishing our books.

Why am I telling you this?  Because you can jump in with two feet, too.  Whatever it is that beckons out just out of your reach like the rope that hangs off a tree on the banks of a lazy river, if you just jump you might catch the rope.  If you miss the rope, you still get to enjoy the water and have a great time.  It’s better than standing on the banks.

Until next time – find a way to show as well as tell your child, “I love you.”

My best,

Tess Haranda

Personal life, career, executive coach

www.successwithtess.com